A Letter from Graham Forster

More discussion of motoring hazards

Dear Ray,

There have been many utterances regarding motoring in the last month. Most of them are from the government and various methods of exhorting even more money from the car-driver who dares to offend by the most minimal amount. But the daftest of the lot emanates from the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

It appears that 30 mph will, before long, mean just that in such limited areas. It was pointed out that many cars cannot easily do this whilst travelling in fourth gear. The IAM's answer is for everyone to drive in third gear! This will not only foreshorten the life of the car, use more petrol thus depleting the planet's fossil fuel reserves, but also generate more pollutants into the atmosphere. People with respiratory problems will suffer even more, and in major urban areas their lives could be foreshortened also - all for a little bit of latitude not being used.

I have ranted on before about speed not being the cause of so many accidents (it can be, of course), but the main cause is driver error. This will never be eliminated because we are all human, but the measures detailed above bring more problems than they solve. A little tolerance is necessary as is the need for drivers to drive more responsibly and with more care.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Forster